Don't spoil dinner!!

The calorie tracking is going good. I've been spot on since about July 7th.

Until this last Wednesday. I'm not going to label it food poisoning, because the food at Gumbo Ya Ya's was really good. No one else got sick, and some people even had what I ordered. I can say though, without doubt, that my body rejected the seafood gumbo. By midnight, I was orally removing it all. Not pleasant.

This took me out of schedule for about a good 48 hours. No exercise, no calorie counting. Lot's of couch laying. As of yesterday I'm feeling much better. I went to the gym and did a swim workout, which was my first in about 10 months. It was really nice - so much so I'll be incorporating that into my cross training at least once a week for now.

The point of this blog though is that since the sickness I've noticed my inability to consume my normal caloric intake. Erin reminded me that my stomach probably shrunk from the heaving, which I never put together. This new restricted intake has been interesting; I feel full very quickly and am content. It was troubling the first few meals, as I tried to get it all in, but once I realized why, it became a pleasant surprise. Sooo, all this had me thinking of what I'm sure most of us heard growing up. "Don't spoil your dinner". This was often said in the late afternoon while dinner was just starting to be prepared. It's hardwired into me now to not eat within 4 hours of dinner, at least, and then have a BIG meal. This new stomach restriction has made me realize how detrimental this harwired code has been for me and possibly the nation at large!!!

It's ok to eat every few hours. In fact it's good for you, as long as you can contain yourself with regard to portion control. So, I will spend this next week re-wiring myself to try and go with this new intake limitation. Let's see if it sticks or if I slowly ramp back up my calories. It will be hard to get my caloric needs, but I'm up for the challenge.

It's definitely worth pondering though. We will have kids soon, and when we do so, we will be responsible for setting the patterns in their life. That's a big deal. Let's hope all this new found awareness will help our next generation avoid the diet related diseases (obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, etc.).

Averaging In

Ever since we moved to Florida I've been seeing a chiropractor to try and kick this bum back. It's been great and it's helped quite a bit. Part of the Chiro's orders were to slow up on the workouts AND NO RUNNING. This was tough for me - running is a sort of my 'therapy'. I got through it and continued to do the the ChaLean Extreme program. I got through 3/4 of it before I had to leave for Europe, at which point everything even closely related to healthy living halted.
Upon my return I considered finishing the ChaLean program, but since I was SO far from being in the zone I figured it wouldn't do much good.
So I've elected to start a classic round of P90X again. I was reading Straight Dope,which is Steve Edwards blog, and he brought up a really interesting theory about getting back into training. It helped me see that I take a very "gung ho" attitude about working out - which often left me totally burned out early on and even promoted injury and back flare up.
So I'm two days in to the program and already I can feel myself being much, much more aware of my body. I'm giving my back reprieve on all the exercises where I previously jumped into without regard.
I can feel my body responding well. It's obvious that I am not in as good of condition as before my last tri (post P90x). I am however responding much quicker than my initial round of training (over a year ago). I'll post some continual updates as to how things are coming along. It's definitely a commitment, 6 days a week @ 60-80 min per workout. I'd like to get back into Tri shape - and might get there by the end of this current season....we shall see though.

my big return

Things seem to be getting back to normal after our return from Europe. I've posted an album of Europe pics on my facebook page and Erin is doing an amazing job of recounting the days through her blog. I'm spending this weekend crammed inside a classroom for my Real Estate intensive review. I take the state test on Tuesday.... we shall see.

I have to admit that my fitness suffered horribly while in Europe. Day one started great with a little Tony Horton Hotel Room workout - but then I got sick. Like, make it through the day and get into bed sick. It lasted until about the last four days, which Erin and I spent traveling through Belgium. Those days were filled with beer and patat frittes, which does not leave one excited to do squats.

SO - tomorrow - MONDAY - marks the beginning of hopping back on the train. I was about 75% through the ChaLean Extreme program before we left - so i'm going to back up about a week and jump in. Hopefully that extra week will give my body the time it needs for muscle memory to kick in. I do know that the fact our diet has resumed has helped the body quite a bit. No more need for a 2pm nap.